Carrot Cake Murder (24 page)

“You shouldn’t be. I think you’ve got your priorities straight, Hannah.”

“I do?”

“Yes. Maybe a murder investigation is more critical, but the welfare of a frog is important, too.”

It was almost nine in the evening by the time the party began to break up. Tomorrow would be what Lisa and Herb were calling, “Games Day.” There would be the usual summer picnic games, like kickball, three-legged races, sack races, biking expeditions, tricycle parades, and team softball. There would also be water games, like swimming and diving competitions, water polo, canoe and rowboat races, and even a synchronized swimming demonstration by three junior-high girls who hoped to make their high school team. Anyone who didn’t want to or couldn’t play in the games was recruited to be a volunteer judge. Others were encouraged to sit in lawn chairs and cheer on the contestants.

Hannah glanced at her watch and turned to Norman. “I’m going to help clean up, and then I’m heading home. I’d invite you over, but I really need to get a good night’s sleep. I haven’t had my full six hours for at least a week.”

“Why didn’t you tell me when I called this morning?” Norman sounded surprised.

“Tell you what?”

“That Moishe acted up again. I thought the Kitty Kondo did the trick.”

“I think it did do the trick. He certainly enjoyed playing with the mouse this morning. And the fact that I lost sleep last night has nothing to do with Moishe. It’s Mother’s fault.”

“Your mother called you in the middle of the night?”

“No, she gave me a deadline for Jack’s Red Velvet Cookies, and I promised to do my best to have them by tonight. When I got home last night, I researched them and mixed up three different test batches. I didn’t get to bed until midnight, and Moishe started playing with the squeaky mouse at four in the morning, a minute or two before my alarm went off.”

“But he didn’t tear up any pillows or race around inside your bathtub?”

“No. I’m beginning to think you were right, Norman, and he was acting up because he was bored.”

Once Norman had hugged her and they’d said their goodbyes, Hannah started to pick up paper dessert plates and put them in the trash. In the space of fifteen minutes, the picnic tables had been wiped down and the dishes had been scraped and put into the dishwashers. Hannah was more than ready to drive home and go to bed, but there was one more thing she had to do first.

It took a while to find Lisa. Hannah finally spotted her alone at a picnic table under a pine tree. No doubt her partner wanted to be alone to think about what Mac had told them, but thinking alone wouldn’t solve the problem.

“Lisa?” she said, sitting down across from her partner.

“What is it?”

Lisa’s voice sounded thick, as if she’d been crying, but Hannah didn’t mention that. “I need to talk to your dad for a minute,” she said. “Do you think you could find us a nice quiet spot?”

“He’s in a nice quiet spot right now. Herb took him back to the cottage so they could watch what’s left of the ballgame. The Twins had a doubleheader with the Angels today.”

“Will he mind if I interrupt him?”

“He won’t mind. It’s probably over by now, anyway.” Lisa got up and led the way. “Are you going to ask him questions about the night of the murder?”

“Yes. I need as much background as I can get. Don’t worry, Lisa. I’ll do my best not to upset him.”

“I don’t think you’ll upset him. You never have before. And I know that he really likes you.”

Lisa opened the screen door and they stepped into the small cottage where Jack and Marge were staying. “Hi, Dad,” she greeted her father with a kiss on the cheek, and then moved over to Herb. “How did the ballgame go?”

“Twins won the first, but the Angels won the second,” Herb told her.

“Oh, well.” Lisa sat down next to her father. “Hannah needs to ask you some questions, Dad. Herb and I are going to leave you with her for a couple of minutes. Hannah’s our good friend, and you can tell her anything, okay?”

“Okay.” Jack nodded and watched his daughter walk off. “She’s a good girl,” he said.

“Yes, she is. You’re lucky to have her, and she’s lucky to have you.” Hannah moved a little closer to keep his attention and asked her first question. “Is it possible you went for a walk on Sunday night after the dance?”

“Yes, it’s possible. It was the first night in a different bed. I always sleep better at home, you know.”

“And you might have gone for a walk if you couldn’t sleep?” Hannah asked him.

“I might have…Hannah. It’s Hannah, isn’t it?”

“That’s right. You remembered!”

Jack shrugged. “It comes and goes. I just try not to get too…what’s the word that’s the opposite of calm, Harriet?”

Hannah resisted the urge to correct him. “Agitated? Frustrated?”

“Both of those. If I stay quiet, I’ve got a better shot at remembering. Say, Helen…he wasn’t shot, was he?”

“No, he was stabbed with an ice pick.”

“Too bad. If he’d been shot, I’d be in the clear.”

“Really?”

“That’s right. Emmy wouldn’t let me have a gun in the house. She was always afraid the kids would get hold of it and shoot each other, or some such thing. And now my little girl’s a trophy winner in that cowboy game with Herb. Life’s iron…iron…what’s the word?”

“Ironic?”

“That’s it. Life’s ironic, Hazel.”

“It’s Hannah,” Hannah corrected him before she could think better of it.

“I know you’re Hannah. I just wanted to see how many times I could call you the wrong name before you corrected me. That must have just about killed you!”

Hannah gave him a startled glance and then she started to laugh. “You’re like the guy who got a hearing aid and didn’t tell his family he was wearing it.”

“And changed his will a dozen times,” Jack finished the old joke. “You’d be surprised what I remember and what I don’t. There’s no rhyme or…whatever that other R word is…to it. Sometimes a smell will spark something I haven’t thought of in years. And other times it’s something I eat, or a car I see in an old movie, or an antique around the house.”

“You told me that once before,” Hannah said. “I was hoping those Red Velvet Cookies I made for your birthday would bring back the memory of the fight you had with Gus the night he left Lake Eden for good. I think that’s one of the keys to this whole thing, Jack. I wish you could remember what that fight was about.”

“So do I. But I’ve tried and I can’t.”

“Don’t try so hard. Just eat another couple of the cookies tomorrow. You daughter, Iris, said Emmy used to bake them when Iris was really little.”

“They did taste familiar. It’s probably why I thought they were so good. I miss her, you know.”

“Your wife?”

“That’s the hardest thing about getting old. Everybody you knew when you were young is dead.”

“It must be horribly depressing,” Hannah commented, feeling horribly depressed just thinking about it.

“It is. But then there’s the upside.”

“What’s that?”

“You get to outlive your enemies. That’s the good part…unless you’re the guy that killed them, of course.”

CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER CAKE

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F., rack in the middle position.

WARNING: THERE ARE PEANUTS IN THIS RECIPE. MAKE SURE YOU ASK IF ANYONE IS ALLERGIC TO PEANUTS BEFORE YOU BAKE AND SERVE THIS CAKE!!!

Hannah’s 1stNote: Lisa says she got the idea for this cake by watching Marge make her Cocoa Fudge Cake. Since Herb is crazy about Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, Lisa’s cake combines peanut butter and chocolate.

Butter and flour a 9-inch by 13-inch sheet cake pan. (You can also spray it with Pam or another nonstick cooking spray and then just lightly dust it with flour. You can also do what Lisa did and spray it with a product that mixes nonstick cooking spray with flour.)

Hannah’s 2ndNote: I was really leery of the nonstick cooking spray mixed with flour, but Lisa says it works just fine.

2 cups white (granulated) sugar

2 cups flour (don’t sift—just level it off with a knife)

—————

1 cup butter (2 sticks, ½ pound, 8 ounces)

1 cup peanut butter (Lisa used Skippy creamy peanut butter)

1 cup water

—————

½ cup cream (or evaporated milk, if you’re all out of cream)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 eggs, beaten (just whip them up in a glass with a fork)

Hannah’s 3rdNote: Lisa used the mixer down at The Cookie Jar to make this cake. She says you can also do it by hand if you don’t have an electric mixer.

Mix the sugar and the flour together at low speed.

Put the butter, peanut butter, and water into a medium-sized saucepan. Turn the burner on medium heat and bring the mixture ALMOST to a boil. (When it sends up little whiffs of steam and bubbles start to form around the edges, take it off the heat.)

Pour the peanut butter mixture over the sugar and flour, and mix it all up together.

Rinse out the saucepan, but don’t bother to wash it thoroughly. You’ll be making a frosting and you can use it again before you really wash it.

Whisk the cream, vanilla extract, baking soda, and eggs together in a small bowl.

SLOWLY, add this mixture to the large mixer bowl and combine it at medium speed. (You have to go slowly with this step because you have the hot peanut butter mixture in your bowl and you’re adding an egg mixture. This cake wouldn’t be wonderful if you ended up with peanut butter flavored scrambled eggs!)

Scrape down the mixing bowl with a rubber spatula, remove it from the mixer, and give it a final stir by hand.

Pour the batter into the 9-inch by 13-inch greased and floured cake pan.

Bake at 350 degrees F. for 30 to 35 minutes. When the cake begins to shrink away from the sides of the pan and a long toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, it’s done.

Hannah’s 4thNote: Lisa uses my Neverfail Fudge Frosting on this cake. It’s given as an alternative frosting at the end of Marge’s Cocoa Fudge Cake recipe, but I’ll write it down again here.

NEVERFAIL FUDGE FROSTING

½ cup (1 stick, ¼ pound, 4 ounces) salted butter

1 cup white (granulated) sugar

1/3 cup cream

½ cup chocolate chips 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ cup chopped salted peanuts (optional)

Place the butter, sugar, and cream into a medium-size saucepan (You can use the one from the cake that you didn’t wash.) Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring constantly. Turn down the heat to medium and cook for two minutes.

Add the half-cup chocolate chips, stir them in until they’re melted, and remove the saucepan from the heat.

Stir in the vanilla.

Pour the frosting on the cake and spread it out quickly with a spatula. If you’re pouring it on a warm cake or a cold cake, just grab the pan and tip it so the frosting covers the whole top.

Sprinkle the chopped salted peanuts (if you decided to use them) over the top of the frosting.

If you want this frosting to cool in a big hurry so that you can cut the cake, just slip it in the refrigerator, uncovered, for a half-hour or so.

Hannah’s 5thNote: Lisa says to tell you that this cake is absolutely yummy if you serve it slightly warm. It’s also wonderful at room temperature. If you keep it in the refrigerator, take it out 45 minutes or so before you plan to serve it.

Hannah had an odd thought as she unlocked her door. If her condo complex had been built next door to the Palace of Westminster, she would be hearing Big Ben strike ten. Of course that didn’t account for the time change.

It had been so long, Hannah had almost forgotten to brace herself for the furry orange-and-white cat bombardment. She staggered slightly as he landed in her arms, but she was smiling all the while. “Hi, Moishe!” she said, nuzzling him as she carried him over to his favorite perch on the back of the couch and gave him a pat before she set him down. Things were back to normal. All was right with her world.

But before she could give her pet the scratch behind the ears he’d always expected, Moishe jumped down from the back of the couch and made a beeline for the Kitty Kondo. He whisked inside, and a second later came out on the penthouse floor.

“Oh, that’s your favorite perch now?” Hannah asked, walking over to give him the scratch that was part of her coming home ceremony.

She stood there petting him and listening to him purr until the phone rang. Then she hurried to the base station on the end table by the couch to get the receiver. “Hello?” she answered.

“You sound happy. I take it Moishe behaved himself while you were gone?”

It was Norman, and Hannah began to smile. “Thanks to you, he did. All I lost was another squeaky mouse, and I’m sure it’s around here somewhere.”

“That’s the reason I called. The girl from the pet store called me on my cell phone. Their shipment of mice came in, and I stopped out there to pick up some more. If you’re not too tired, I’ll bring them over. But if you are, it can wait until the next time I see you.”

Considerate. Norman was so considerate. And despite the fact that she’d gotten very little sleep this week, Hannah felt energized by the fact that Moishe was back to his old self.

“Come on over,” she said. “I just got my second wind, and I’ll put on the coffee.”

Hannah put on the coffee. And while she was there in the kitchen, she gave Moishe a full bowl of food and fresh water. Then she headed straight to the pantry. She needed to serve something with the coffee when Norman arrived at her condo. It was a Minnesota tradition. The obligation to serve a kind of sweet treat was still in force, even though they’d both eaten generous portions of Jack’s birthday cake less than two hours ago. A good Minnesota hostess could not serve coffee all by itself!